Douglas Milewski (dacuteturtle) wrote,
Douglas Milewski
dacuteturtle

The Magic Serpent

Last night, I watched an obscure Japanese film called The Magic Serpent. This is a fantasy film from the 60's. The thing which struck me hardest was the whole Star Warsiness of the thing. This film really smacks you with the clue bat concerning just how much Lucas took from this genre. It's one thing to know that he swiped from samurai films, but it's another to see just how glaring this was.

I won't accuse him of stealing, though. If I did that, I would have to accuse EVERY Japanese samurai film maker of stealing from each other. The idea of a genre is that YOU ARE taking ideas from every other person making films in that genre. It's like open software. You take stuff from the genre, then you put stuff back into the genre. Everyone wins. (Yeah! The creative commons!)

I will say that Lucas was smart in dropping the whole giant monster angle.

No. Forget that. The Death Star was the giant monster.
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